Which to use
“deir” is an adjective and “dejar” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #46,473
- “deir” frequency rank
- #392
- “dejar” frequency rank
- 46865
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | deir | dejar |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Mutación suave del adjetivo numeral cardinal femenino teir ('tres') | Depositar o colocar una cosa en su sitio. |
Where the eye mixes deir and dejar
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence. deir runs 4 letters (CVVC) against dejar's 5 (CVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Why the eye confuses deir with dejar
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: deir is [ˈdɛjr] while dejar is [d̪eˈxaɾ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46865, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
deir is recorded at frequency rank #46,473, classified as anadj, pronounced [ˈdɛjr]. dejar is at rank #392, tagged as averb, pronounced [d̪eˈxaɾ].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 46865, this pair ranks #123,303 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of deir vs dejar
Shared letters: der. Private to "deir": i. Private to "dejar": aj.
"deir" · 4 letters · shape CVVC · "dejar" · 5 letters · shape CVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "deir" and "dejar" be used interchangeably?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "deir" or "dejar" show up more?
Useful next steps
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "deir" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "dejar" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #123,303 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "deir" and "dejar" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "deir vs Deva". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #123,303 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.